Part Two

Soul Marked

Chapter Eleven

It's not your fault

Hi guys back again with another update! Next chapter we get into the swing of the Sports Festival! I'm thinking this arc might have some long chapters I haven't really decided how I want to break them up as I do plan on writing out from a couple points of view when it comes to the one on one fighting.

Please review! I'm so excited for this Arc!

This chapter was edited by my amazing beta: Whatisthiswitchery.

I am so sorry for this chapter guys! It refused to come up as chapter Eleven no mater what I did! So you've all reread chapter 6 and then chapter 12! Again so sorry hopefully this is officially fixed.

Izuka had been cleared to return to school the next day, her mother had thrown a fit over her when she had arrived from work.

"Oh, Izuka!" she yelped out dragging her daughter from the couch and carefully pulling her in for a hug. "I was so scared when I got the call, and then you were unconscious for a week. I would have been there when you woke up but my boss called and refused to let me deny coming in. It's a good thing that Katsuki agreed to stay with you. He's a good boy."

Midoriya blushed remembering that she had cried in front of him. She could feel her cheeks heat up and tried squashing that feeling before her mother could pull back from the hug.

"I don't know what I would have done if I lost you," she mumbled as she pulled away. "I went into a frenzy when they said how you had gotten hurt. I can't imagine you in that type of position."

Truthfully Izuka didn't want to think about what she had gone through. Every time she let her thoughts drift back she could feel the fingers digging into her skin again. The sensation of her throat closing up almost had her spluttering for breath and she yanked herself from her mother's grip.

"Izuka, honey?" Inko asked her eyes widening in surprise. Blinking eyes stared into the shocked face of her mother, Izuka's fingers were shaking, she curled them into her palm trying to keep the rest of her body from following suit.

"Ano, I'm fine Okaa-san," she said forcing a smile onto her lips. "I'm still really tired. You'd think after sleeping for so long I'd feel hyped up." The laugh that escaped her mouth sounded hollow even to her own ears but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Her mother would either buy it and allow her to go or she would push her to talk about it.

The small girl wished her mother would pick the first option, talking about it wasn't on her lists to do. The mere thought about it almost sent her into a panic. There was so much she needed to get a handle on before opening up about how it made her feel. How close she had been to-

Shaking her head she refused to go down that path. She needed to quit thinking about it, she needed sleep.

Leaning forward she kissed her mother's cheek cutting her off from whatever she was about to say. "Goodnight, Okaa-san," she quietly said as she pulled away. "I'm feeling tired. I'll see you in the morning for breakfast."

"O-okay, Izuka," Inko stuttered out having saw the despair in her daughter's eyes. She was afraid for her, but pushing her in that moment didn't seem like the healthy choice. "We'll talk later."

Nodding she turned around shuffling to her bedroom as her fingers lightly traced the bandages at her neck. She closed the door to her room and dressed in a daze barely realizing when she had pulled the covers over her head or when her breathing evened out and she fell into a deep sleep.

Izuka found herself back there again, she was standing rigid in front of an unknown being. The sound of scratching pricked at her ears causing an unconscious flinch to wrack through her body. It was then that she felt the fingers at her neck, they dug into her skin, their hold on her tightening after flinching.

"The symbol that will take down All Might," the owner of the fingers whispered into her ear. "You'll be all mine before you know it." She felt herself begin to shake at the sound of his voice.

"No," she whimpered out.

"We'll have so much fun turning you into the killer I know you can be." His laughter surrounded her, it held her in a vice like grip as she continued to shake feeling helpless. "You'll think just like us before you know it."

"No!" she shot up from bed tears running down her face as sweat clung to her skin. Her fingers clutched at the sheets underneath her as she tried kicking the blanket that was caught around her legs off them. A grunt escaped her lips as her efforts left her falling off the side of her bed and onto her bedroom floor.

Shakily she pulled herself up onto her knees her hands coming up to hover over her neck, still feeling the ghost like feeling of a touch that was no longer there. Her hands came up to wipe at her face, her mouth feeling dry and knew her voice would sound all crackly if she tried to speak. Rubbing at her eyes she gripped the side of her bed and using it for leverage began to pull herself to her feet.

Glancing down at her bed only had her thinking about her nightmare the feeling of fear still clutching tightly onto her mind. She found her green orbs darting around her room looking into every shadow searching for the blue-haired villain. Rubbing at her arms she grabbed at the blanket from her bed and threw it around her shoulders moving away to her door feeling the need to have a glass of water.

A sigh of relief escaped her when she realized her mother hadn't heard the commotion her daughter had made. She never felt more happiness at the fact that their bedroom were on the opposite ends of the apartment.

She wasn't sure if she could have handled her mother hovering around her. Burying her face into the soft blanket she shuffled slowly into the kitchen, making sure not to make too much noise as she did. Her hands sought out the cabinet that held the glasses and pulled one free so she could fill it with water.

The cool water slid down her throat and helped with clearing her mind. With the cup in hand she made her way back to her room, but she knew that sleep wouldn't come to her for a second time that night, and even if it could she knew she wouldn't let it. The chance of having another nightmare didn't bode well with her.

She was still trying to calm her racing heart and the feeling was causing her stomach to feel queasy. Throwing up once was already more than enough times for one day so she found herself swallowing against the feeling and moving to her laptop that stayed on the desk next to her bed. Pulling the chair back, she lowered her aching body to the seat and booted the system up. One hand clutched desperately at the All Might blanket while the other typed away at the computer bringing up a random video to watch to keep her mind full of pointless images.

Anything was better than her mind replaying the nightmare over and over.

By the time light began to sprinkle through her window she felt like she had a better handling on her emotions but she felt beyond tired. Her eyes were heavy and had deep bags hanging under them. This was not the sleeping schedule All Might had made for her.

With a groan she shoved the seat back and let the blanket drop from her shoulders to drape over the chair instead. She pushed herself forward to try to shower away the crap night of sleep. Feeling only slightly better she began to apply concealer to try to hide the bags under her eyes. She really didn't want anyone asking her questions, anything to avoid triggering her memories.

She raced through breakfast fearful her mother would try to have the talk that she had avoided last night. Darting out the door with a quick goodbye she raced down the stairs to escape from the building.

When arriving at school she forced herself to slow down to a mere walk. She had felt the need to keep a fast pace the whole way to school, her whole body felt anxious and as long as she continued to move the feeling dulled.

Upon arriving to class she found only a few of her classmates already there. Todoroki simply nodded at her but Momo, the only other person there, had walked up to her desk and stared down worriedly at her friend. "How are you?" Momo asked as she eyed the bandages. "I came to see you while you were still out. I think most of the class did."

"Ah, that's nice to know," she said with a small smile. "I'm okay." She refused to utter anything about her neck, she just wanted to forget. Momo's eyes darted back down to her bandages but she was kind enough not to bring it up.

"Well I'm happy to see you back. Ochaco and I missed you. I'm sure Kaminari did too, he wouldn't quit whining about not having you around." A genuine smile shined through Izuka's face as she listened to her talk.

"I missed you guys too," she said. "I'm just happy to start class and have everything go back to normal."

"Oh, you missed the announcement yesterday," Momo said as she leaned against Izuka's desk. "Aizawa-sensei says we only have two more weeks to prepare for the annual Sports Festival." Izuka snapped her head up to look at Momo as the words 'Sport Festival' left her mouth.

"The Sports Festival!" she let out an excited shriek. A few classmates who had been making their way into the room snapped their heads in her direction. Smile lit up their faces at seeing her back. "I love watching it every year!"

"Well you'll be doing more than just watching it," Momo said with a smirk.

"Yeah, wow, we'll actually be participating," Izuka mumbled. "That's scary exciting."

"Hey, Iz-chan!" Kaminari rushed over to the two girls, he was practically sprinting around the desks as she skidded to a stop in front of her. "You're back!"

"Hey, Denki," she said with another small smile. He reached out to ruffle her hair causing the ponytail she had it pulled back into to mess up, several strands falling out to hang over her face.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked. "Are you going to be able to participate in the Festival?" It was obvious he was gazing at the bandages, trying to nicely ask about how bad it was.

"I should be completely healed by then," Izuka muttered quietly. "Only a couple sessions with Recovery Girl and I should be like new again." That was a lie of course. She knew there would be scars in the five places his fingers had rested. They would forever show the pain he had caused her. No matter how hard she would try there would always be a reminder of that man. He could never be completely erased from her life.

"Move it Sparky," a gruff voice called out from behind Denki causing her to snap her gaze over to familiar ash blonde hair. Her eyes met his crimson ones and he held her gaze for only a moment before dropping it.

Kaminari moved aside allowing him to pass and take his seat. She could feel her cheeks heat up at the sight of him. A groan sounded from her body as she shook her head. She really needed to get over the fact that she had cried into his arms, and then had been held close to him while on the train. It was stupid to be acting like this.

"You okay, Iz-chan?" Kaminari asked as he poked at her heated cheeks. She pulled herself fast and quickly covered the betraying body part.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" she almost yelled in surprise. "You two should start to sit down. Class will be starting soon."

"She's right," Momo said as she patted her friends shoulder before moving back to her desk. Kaminai ruffled her hair one last time before going off to do the same thing.

With a sigh of relief Izuka undid the ponytail before quickly throwing it back up into the proper high ponytail it was once in. Her green bangs framed her face helping to hide what the concealer had failed to do. She felt a pair of eyes digging into her back and she turn partly around to see who it was.

Green met red and she quickly turned back to face forward, her heartbeat began to speed up.

"Good morning class," Aizawa greeted them as he entered. Izuka let out a happy sigh, class had started and she could keep her mind off things she didn't care about worrying on. The day seemed to fly by, several more of her classmates had called out expressions of their happiness that she was back between periods.

After first hour as they were waiting for their next teacher Ochaco had pulled her into a hug, crushing her to the slightly taller girl. Izuka had begun to struggle to be free and assured the girl that she was fine and happy to be back.

By the time lunch had come around Izuka was honestly glad. The day had taken more from her than she had imagined it would. With barely any sleep she was ready to spend her lunch break sleeping instead of eating. Kaminari had dragged her from the classroom excitedly wanting to spend the time talking about the festival.

She allowed him to tug at her arm thinking it was easier than resisting.

"Hey man," Kirishima said coming up behind them. "Careful on the girl, she looks like she's going to pass out." Kaminari stumbled to a stop glancing back behind him at the exhausted looking girl.

"Ah!" Denki yelped out as he began to pull her along at a more slow pace. "You sure you're okay, Iz? You look exhausted." Izuka let out a fake chuckle as she began to mess with the end of her ponytail.

"Totally fine," she said as she adjusted her strides to match the new pace. "Sleeping for a week kind of left me trying to fight to feel tired. I'm pretty exhausted today I guess." She hated lying but didn't want them asking her questions about her nightmares. She didn't want them knowing she even had them.

"Makes sense," Kirishima said with a nod but his eyes still darted over her face. "Sleeping for that long could make it hard to feel tired enough to turn around and sleep again."

"Exactly." She fiddled with her cuticles wishing they'd stop giving her unsure looks. There was a gust of wind that tousled her curly hair and All Might was standing in front of her. Her eyes snapped up to his as he held out a bento box, a large smile tugging at his lips, but she could still see the sadness deep in the depths of his blue eyes.

"Would you like to spend lunch with me?" he asked as he nodded to the two boys that she was with.

"Sure," she said as she turned to Kirishima and Kaminari. "I'll see you two back in class. You wouldn't mind letting Momo know where I went, would you?"

"Ah, no, leave it to us," Kaminari said his smile looking more unsure than happy. She waved at them after patting the blonde's shoulder before slowly going to move after Toshi. They walked in silence but behind her she could barely make out Kaminari speaking to Kirishima.

"Has All Might taken a liking to her?" Kaminari asked in confusion.

"He did look pretty upset seeing her in the clutches of that villain," Kirishima said his eyes following after the girl and the hero. "Her quirk is like his as well. Perhaps that's why he took an interest in her? Giving her training tips?"

"Could be," Kaminari said as they both walked toward the line for food. Izuka followed the much taller and bulkier hero to the staff room where as soon as the door was closed steam began to surround his body. His skeletor dubbed form stood in front of her before taking a seat on the sofa next to him.

"Please sit," he said as he laid the bento on the table. "Sorry for grabbing you before you could get food, but I figured it was better taking you in front of your two friends and not the whole cafeteria."

"It's fine," she said taking the cup of tea he offered her. "I prefer it that way."

"I'll be more than happy to share my lunch with you. It's not as good as your moms but it'll get the job done." She laughed as she watched him place the bento on the table.

"Your cooking isn't so bad," she teased as he began to dish her some of the food. Taking the offered plate she broke apart her chopsticks and began to slowly eat. She was honestly ravenous and needed the energy if she was going to make it through the rest of the day.

"I needed to talk to you," Toshi began before he took a sip from his tea. "My time limit has grown shorter since the attack. I'm only able to hold it about fifty minutes a day now."

"That's not good," she said coming to understand what this conversation would be about. It wasn't hard to guess between the Sports Festival and his time having lessened exponentially.

"I wanted to speak of the Sports Festival," he said as he set the cup down so he could stare at her. "How is your control coming along? Last time I checked you were able to do five percent."

"Hai, I'm able to do about eight percent now, and other than some light bruising I have better control. If I over do it however, I could easily break something if I don't keep it in check."

"Good, keep up the good work," he said with a nod leaning over the table to pat her shoulder with his hand. "In all honesty Izu-chan, the time I've got left as the Symbol of Peace, is quickly running out." Izuka sat back in her seat her face set in a hard gaze. She knew that this was coming. As soon as he needed to speak with her she knew.

Her training needed to pick up, there would be a time when she would be passed the torch and lead as the new Symbol of Peace, and it was fast approaching. It was quicker than she was expecting but this was what she had signed up for. It's what she wanted. The fact that it was scarier when faced with it was besides the point.

"There are those among the villains who have figured that out." Her eyes snapped up when he spoke his thoughts about that. She knew that was bad knowledge for them to have. "I granted you my power so you could succeed me!"

She could still remember all that torturous training she had been put through for ten months. It had all been leading up to the point where she would take over.

"The whole country watches the Sports Festival. That means just one thing for us!" He shoved his hand down onto the coffee table loudly with force that snapped her eyes into his own, watching as the pure passion he had there shined like a beacon. "You. The next All Might, the fledgling Symbol, I need you to yell to the world, I am here!"

That was a lot of responsibility riding on her shoulders, the festival had become even more important to her, it was her way to shine. To show people that even after All Might there would be someone to take over for him, to protect the weak, and bring the bad to justice.

She shook a little under his intense gaze as she met his eyes head on. "I will do my best to make you proud, Toshi!" Izuka said bowing her head slightly, letting her bangs fall into her eyes.

"Neh, kid, you've already done a pretty good job of that," he said with a light smile. "You're growing stronger by the day, you'll make a great hero." She beamed a smile at him his praise causing her to not feel so tired for the first time that day.

"Thank you." The happiness was thick in her voice but Toshi couldn't help but notice that the whole time they talked her eyes held the same red tint to them that Aizawa's own did. She looked tired and he could see that she had tried to conceal the bags under her eyes. He began to wonder if the events at USJ wasn't being handled by the younger girl.

"You know Izu-chan," he said as he stuffed his face full of another serving of rice. "You can talk to me. About anything that's worrying you. Especially with what happened at USJ."

Her body tensed at the mention. Her eyes widened and she could feel her body began to shake as she tried taking a deep breath.

"Being in the grip of Shigaraki isn't something I'm finding easy to shake off." Izuka said softly her head falling forward and her gaze strictly on her hands. She knew talking to Yoshi would be okay. Unlike her mother he wouldn't go off on a worried frenzy and begin second guessing letting her daughter be a hero. He would understand.

Izuka was sure that he had seen his fair share of horrible things, had experienced great fear, and some of it probably still clung to him.

"Your brush with a villain for the first time, especially in those conditions, it can cause stress," he said slowly taking in her reactions as he spoke.

"I had my first nightmare last night," she said with a huff of air releasing from her. "I can't even stand it when someone comes up behind me without my knowledge. I can't even begin to think about what would happen if someone tried to touch my neck."

"Young Izu, there are funds set aside in the schools budget for students who need help with things like this. You're not the first and won't be the last. It can help to talk to someone." Her eyes snapped up to his own. She was startled that it had been offered, she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"I have you, Toshi," Izuka said with a small nod. "I don't want to talk to anyone else. If it gets worse I'll think about it then." He nodded consenting that he would let it go for now.

"You must try to get sleep tonight, even if you have nightmares. For your health and safety it is vital."

"I'll try." They turned back to eating both of them thinking over the events that had occured at USJ. Izuka happened to glance up as a flash of guilt and regret covered his features for a split second before it disappeared.

He caught her staring at him her gaze burning a hole into the side of his head.

"Yes?"

"You don't need to feel guilty," she said after a tense moment. "It's hardly your fault that I had been captured. I recklessly threw myself into that fight. I should have kept my distance but all I thought about was how he wanted to hurt my friends."

"I hadn't been able to save you, Izuka," he said his voice barely audible to her ears. "If it hadn't been for young Iida being able to escape and get the others they would have surely taken you away with them. I wouldn't have had the time in my form to keep up the fight. I hadn't had the strength in the end."

"Don't blame yourself, please," she whimpered her own voice growing terribly quiet.

"You are much more to me than just my successor," he said tightly his gaze burning into her own. "You have become one of my most precious people. You are important to me. Someone whom I trust greatly and you had almost slipped from my grasp. I am here to protect you until I am no longer needed and I failed."

As he spoke Izuka could feel the tears begin to build in her eyes and before she could lose complete control over them she shoved herself over the table and wrapped her arms around his lanky form.

Her head buried into his chest and hesitantly he wrapped an arm to secure her to him. The tears began to flow freely as her face was now hidden.

"Don't you say that!" she yelled her words muffled by his shirt. "You protected me, you gave the others the opening they needed. You protected me! I am safe! You helped with that! You protected everyone until help had arrived."

She could still see the hit aimed for Kacchan only for it to be diverted away, All Might taking the punch instead. She wasn't sure she could ever pay back the hero for what he did. He had protected her Soulmate when she couldn't. He had protected them all and kept fighting even when he had reached his limit.

They stayed like that for several moments longer, both taking the comfort the other offered. It didn't take away all the guilt he was feeling but it lessened the load on his heart.

After breaking apart Izuka sent him a tired smile, it held more happiness in it then before, and said her goodbyes. As she headed back to class she felt lighter now that they had that talk. Now if only she could get Kacchan to speak to her. Then all the talks she needed to have would be over with.

She would just need to corner him first.

At least now she felt like she could get through the rest of the day.

So I realize that Kaminari, Kirishima, and Momo are mentioned more than Iida and Ochaco in this story. It hadn't been something I purposefully planned out but well Kaminari ended up taking over her best friend spot. :D Just more divergents from canon I guess. I quite like their friendship myself.

Also OMG I just love her and Toshi. I can't wait to reveal how their relationship builds up too but alas everytime I go to write it I feel like it's still too soon. Hmm, hopefully soon it will come out. :D